After Sword Valley
by kevx80
Summary: What the Title said. After Dunban comes back from Sword Valley, What might have happened in Colony Nine? This story differs from the storyline in the game.
1. Chapter 1 - Colony 9

Chapter 1 - Colony 9

"Shulk! Ya need to get out of the lab! It's not like the Mechon are coming back anytime soon. Dunban took em all out a month ago, at Sword Valley! C'mon, scared of a little sun?" Reyn tells me.

"No Reyn, I am not scared of a little sun, I just like to work." I say. "Anyway, the Monado hasn't released any new power yet, but I think it might have something under its sleeve."

"Too bad Dunban can't still use it..." Reyn replies. He changes the topic. "How's Dunban doing? Is he still in the the Medical Area?"

The Medical Area was set up to treat the soldiers that were fighting the Mechon, and is still in use, located in the Central Plaza. Now that the Mechon are defeated, it only holds some of the soldiers from that last battle with the Mechon.

"Yes, but I think he's improving. Fiora is going to see him today, I think." I reply to Reyn.

"Good! Oh! If I don't leave now, I'm going to be late for battle drills, and you know old Square-tache hates that. He's still so paranoid of a Mechon attack!" Reyn says.

"Oh, the Defence Force Colonel... Yes, you better get to drills then." I tell Reyn. Reyn runs off to the outside.

I put down the paperclips I was fiddling with and step out of the Weapon Development Lab. Reyn said I needed some sunlight. Hmm... I know! Outlook Park! Maybe I'll actually like going there, I think to myself. I head off toward the Residential District, where the path to Outlook Park is located.

Somewhere Else In Colony 9...

If I don't walk faster, I'll never get Giorgio's curry to Dunban before it gets cold! I think to myself. I walk just a bit faster and turn a corner, just being able to make out the bridge to the Central Plaza, where it looked like a tent city was being stripped away by some Homs. As I cross the bridge, I see Kenny Rohun helping strip down some tents.

"What's an artisan like you doing stripping down tents, Kenny? I ask him.

"Hm?" Kenny turns and looks at me. "An artisan cannot volunteer, hm? I see that you have started to use some of the words that I prefer!"

"As if!" I elbow him, almost splashing curry everywhere. "See you later!" I walk off to the far tent, where my brother is being treated. The flap is closed, and I open it. Dunban was convulsing on the bed and spitting blood. I dropped the tray, the curry sloshing everywhere on the floor and panicked.

"Help!" I cried. "Help!"

Rosemary runs in and rushes toward Dunban.

She looks at Dunban, then addresses me. "There's nothing we can do but wait for him to stop convulsing and treat him with some ether afterwards. Do you have anything else you have to deliver? I'll clean up the mess, don't worry."

"But... I need to help!" I exclaim.

"There's nothing we can do. Go and deliver the rest of the curry, Fiora."

"O- OK." I say. "Can you send someone to tell me when Dunban pulls through?"

"Sure. I'll send Kenny as soon as Dunban recovers." Rosemary replies.

"Thanks." I walk out of the tent and go back to the commercial area to get more of Giorgio's curry for Shulk.

Meanwhile...

As soon as I walked outside, one of the guys whispered to me,

"The Colonel is fired up again..."

"Now give me sit-ups until your biceps explode, you dolts!" the Colonel almost screamed at two of the guys. "What do you think you wer-" Old Square-Tache was interrupted by one of the- wait, that wasn't one of our uniforms, it was a Colony Six uniform! What was someone from Colony Six doing here?

"What are you doing here? What happened?" the Colonel asked the Colony Six Defence Force Soldier.

The Defence Force Soldier caught his breath quickly. "My name is Gadolt, and the Mechon are back."

**Author's Note: ** Thanks for reading my first fanfiction! I really hope to keep updating this, if I have time, at least... I hope you stick with me on the way!


	2. Chapter 2 - Imperial Capital Alcamoth

Chapter 2 - Imperial Capital Alcamoth

**In Alcamoth a few days later…**

The Imperial Guard knelt. "Sir, our long range intelligence has confirmed earlier reported Mechon signatures on Lower Bionis."

"Can you be any more specific of their positions?" my father asked.

"Their flight paths from Galahad Fortress seemed to point to the Bionis Knee, but our long range detection instruments could not track them after they got to the Bionis' Thumb. We are currently aligning our short range detection units at the optimal observation point, and that should take a few minutes." the guard replied.

"Thank you." My father said. "You may return to your duties." The guard bowed and left.

The room was empty except for me, Father, and Kallian.

"Father? We must act to neutralize the threat immediately! We cannot stand to see the Homs decimated again!" I say, then I calm my voice. "Surely their force is weakened after Sword Valley, and what will they think of us if we do not help?"

"Melia, the Homs do not know about our existence. We are perfectly safe. There is no reason we should be engaged in a war with the Mechon. There is no threat!" Kallian tells me.

"How is there no threat, Kallian? The Mechon can just as easily fly up to Alcamoth than down to the Bionis' Knee!" I argue.

"Our defenses are impeccable. We are not in danger, Melia. Even if the Mechon are not wiped out, we can defend from them easily."

"Then why not send some to aid the Homs then?"

"Melia, Kallian, this matter is-" my father starts.

"Sir," the Alcamoth Guard says. "Our short range detection systems have spotted the Mechon signatures, but there is something off."

"What is the problem?" my father inquires.

"Well… They have headed to Bionis Knee, the 6th Homs Colony, to be exact, but…" The guard reports. "We have very large Mechon, the size never encountered before, and they have a humanoid form."

"That may just be a new advance in Mechon technology. We shall see if they have the capability to penetrate our defences." Father says, looking at me and Kallian.

"Also sir…" the guard proceeds. "We have another new signature, other than the Homs Defence Forces."

"Well?" Kallian rushes. He always does that when he's agitated. I think. I shake my head.

"We've detected Monado overload signatures. Someone has the Monado, and is out of control." The guard says.

**In Colony 6...**

"Hyaggh! Vile Mechon!" Dunban yelled, slicing through a wave of M54. _I told him not to try… So did Fiora and Reyn, but… _ I thought. _He's saving the Homs. _I couldn't believe I had joined the fight against the Mechon. I would usually be in the lab, but after Fiora told me about Dunban when he was healing only a few days ago, convulsing, I promised Fiora I would take care of Dunban, even in Colony 6. As usual, she didn't trust Reyn. I had to join the fighting ranks of the Defence Force. I shot one of the Mechon from short range, and Dunban sliced it in half.

Dunban was a sight to see on the battlefield. He had sliced through so many Mechon there was almost a wall of Mechon shells that the Mechon had to climb. It was almost too easy.

"Aaaagh!" Dunban screamed in agony, and dropped to the ground.

"Dunban!" I said. "What is it?"

"Monado… Too much…" He mumbles and I see bleeding through his left arm. I call the field medics.

"Take him to the tents. Get him some medical attention!" I say urgently to the medics.

"Yes Si-" All I see is the man getting snatched up by a Mechon, before disintegrating. I look back. A Mechon is right behind me. Almost out of instinct, and my rage toward the Mechon, I grab the nearest object and impale the Mechon with a blade of light.

The Monado.

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the short (and a bit rushed, I'll admit) chapter! School really gets in the way. I plan to post every week, but it may not be possible. Thanks (in advance) for being patient!


	3. Chapter 3 - Colony 6

Chapter 3 - Colony 6

Just keep slicing, I think to myself. Better than thinking about Dunban and the...

"Hey buddy! Ya, Monado boy! Need an Enchant here!", one of the soldiers yelled from the defensive lines in front of the Colony 6 entrance behind me. Enchant? What's tha- Almost automatically, as if reading my thoughts, the Monado turns a shade of purple.

"What?" I yelp, almost dropping the mystical blade. Purple light swims around me and the soldiers as I turn in awe, toward the soldiers. "This never happened in the lab..."

"Hey! Monado boy! A-" a soldier yells over the sounds of approaching...

APPROACHING MECHON! I think, quickly. I turn back around, only to see someone had shot a Mechon that was about to impale me.

"Dickson?" Is that you?" I ask.

"Of course Shulk! Ya think I would've left ya t' fight for yourself?" He says to me. "Of course not! I signed up as soon as I heard ya were gunna fight! We can talk later."

"Yes sir!" I reply, slicing a Mechon M64 in half.

"Sir!" The soldier behind me says. "We need another Enchant!"

"No we don't! We need to retreat!" Another soldier almost screams in panic.

"Shut up soldier! Do you want me to feed you to the Mec-"

I shut the voices out of my mind. I need to focus on fighting. I think, casting another Enchant. Waves and waves of Mechon were approaching. There was no way we could take on that many! We would be overwhelmed, even with the Monado's power on our side.

Apparently my face shows my emotions too well, and Dickson says, "Shulk! Even with the Monado, we won't be able to take on all these Mechon! We need to pull back!" I ponder it, considering all the options. The Colony 6 door, right behind us and the defensive lines, would probably be able to hold them for-

A zinging sound filled my brain, accompanied by a flash of light. Then a foggy visin filled itself into my mind. It was... Us? In front of Colony 6, retreating! This is the future! But... how? Then, a flash of red energy races over my head and lands... lands in the middle of the retreating lines and massacres the soldiers. How? I think. What is this? Another flash and zinging sound and I see Dickson shaking me.

"I just gave the order to retreat! Let's go, Shulk!" he tells me.

"Wait!" I scream. "Don't retreat! Come back!" No one reacts. They all keep running toward Colony 6, retreating.

"Shulk!" Dickson says to me, shooting a Mechon. "What are you doing?"

Just like in my vision, the red energy bolt passes overhead and massacres half of our forces. They lie in twisted shapes, everywhere. They probably had families, I think. People that cared for them. I snap out of it as Dickson says something to me.

"Shulk... You saw that?" He shoots more Mechon. "You can't linger on that now. We're about to get overwhelmed! Not to be insensitive, but you need to fight, or else no one survives! You are the only one able to control that blade right now, and if you die, so does everyone else."

Dickson was right, but how could I go on? How could I still fight, knowing that I could have saved so many lives? I have to fight. I reassure myself in my head. Nobody will survive if I don't fight now.

I get up, anger and pain fuelling my will to fight. I hear Dickson say something, but it doesn't matter. I need to avenge those people that I could have saved. I slice through waves and waves of Mechon, only to stop when hearing Dickson yell to me.

"Shulk! Look at that!" I have to stop and look. Elegant robots with jet boosters, energy shields and technology I couldn't possibly imagine, flying through the sky, taking down Mechon directly in front of me, protecting me, while I stare in awe at their elegant designs. Then I notice something even more surprising. Some of these elegant machines have pilots. They were Homs! Wait, that's not right... I think. They were Homs... with wings.

Author's Note: Sorry about the late upload. I was so engrossed in the holiday season that I didn't get to write. Hopefully, I will be able to get the next chapter out, but sorry in advance for any problems!


End file.
